Making
accessibility
a shore thing

To Kristy Durso, the high stakes of the work she does are clear: one mistake and a client might lose out on experiencing a destination entirely.

Able-bodied cruise passengers may go on an excursion that they end up not loving but “still got to go on it,” Durso said. “If you get it wrong for somebody who uses a wheelchair, they may not be able to get on the bus.”

Durso, who owns Incredible Memories Travel in Texas, is an advisor with expertise in accessible travel, a specialty that often goes hand in hand with expertise about cruises. That’s because cruise ships themselves are considered one of the best ways for travelers with mobility challenges to vacation, in large part because cruise ships that call in U.S. ports must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The experience at cruise destinations, however, is often a different story.

There’s no shortage of hurdles, be it limited shore-excursion options or the ability to even reach land at ports where ships rely on tendering.

But destinations and excursions are improving, which means there are more ways than ever for wheelchair users to enjoy port days. More ports, including private islands, are being designed with wheelchair users in mind, and accessible-excursion providers are expanding their businesses and, in some cases, partnering directly with cruise lines.

Still, hurdles persist, which is one reason why Durso describes the level of precision needed on the advisor’s part. 

For her, the matter is personal: She is a wheelchair user. As she describes the evolution of port accessibility, she weaves in memories of her own travels, like in Roatan, Honduras, where she found a small company with several accessible vehicles.

“They’re just making it happen for people, and I love that,” she said. “More and more destinations are starting to really pick up on the idea that accessibility is something that is not just the right thing, but it’s also profitable.”

The obstacles

Whether a destination is truly accessible is always a multilayered matter.

First is whether cruisers in wheelchairs can get to shore at all. Tender ports are often a no-go because many cruise lines don’t have tender boats that guests in wheelchairs can roll onto. Then the passengers must consider whether the cruise line or a private, alternative excursion provider offers wheelchair-friendly products. 

And for those who prefer not to book an excursion but still want to explore, there’s the questions of how navigable the port or private island is; whether there are accessible taxis or buses; and what the accessibility levels are at tourist sites.

But the complexity doesn’t stop there; within each layer is nothing but nuance. 

Is it clear during the booking process what ports are only accessible via tender? Or must advisors and guests research that information on their own? If a cruise line advertises accessible excursions, are the only options scenic bus tours? Do accessible-excursion providers offer group excursions or only private?

“I think what has changed over the last few years is the awareness,” said Ioannis Bras, CEO of Five Senses Consulting and Development, a cruise port and destination consulting firm. “Ports and destinations now realize or understand a bit better that this is an important side of the business.”

Taking the lead

A few operators and transportation companies have begun to fill in the gaps in accessible tour excursions.

In Europe, Disabled Accessible Travel offers private cruise excursions and is adding an employee that will act as a liaison between the company and advisors. The company, based in Barcelona, partners with accessible-vehicle operators and tour operators who can provide customizable experiences based on cruisers’ interests, said owner Mirjam Versteegh.

Sage Traveling is based in the U.S. and designs shore excursions in ports globally that can be booked by individuals but taken as a small group, lowering the per-person cost. Cruise companies, including Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line, partner directly with Sage to sell the excursions. 

Then there are more localized ventures. In St. Maarten, for example, Louis Jeffers of Accessible Ventures has a fleet of more than 30 accessible vehicles that heavily, though not exclusively, cater to cruise guests. His company designs small-group shore excursions in ports around the world that can be booked individually, which lowers the per-person cost.

Accessible Ventures also offers beach wheelchair rentals, enabling wheelchair users to navigate the sand. Some people who rent them have never been able to go to a beach before and grow emotional when they finally do, Jeffers said. 

“We make it happen for them,” he said.

Multiple cruise lines described the expansion of accessible excursions as an ongoing process — and a priority.

“Accessibility considerations are embedded early in the shore excursion planning process, helping ensure new tours are developed with inclusive design in mind from the start,” said HAL’s director of shore excursions Melanie Carsjens.

HAL has been working on how it communicates with guests so they can “more quickly and easily determine accessibility features available with each excursion option,” Carsjens added.  

Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Julie Leonardi said that updating excursion descriptions is ongoing “to clearly outline accessibility features so guests can make informed decisions and plan their time ashore with confidence.” Carnival is also working to expand its portfolio of accessible tours.

Sage Traveling’s John Sage said it would benefit cruise lines to be more transparent about whether excursions they sell are accessible. In January, Sage Traveling released data on how many ports individual cruise lines advertised as having accessible excursions. It eliminated any excursions that would require a guest to get out of their wheelchair or that didn’t have accessible in the title or in an accompanying photograph.

Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas and Holland America Line were the leaders, offering the most ports with what he considers truly accessible excursions. They included Grenada, St. Lucia and Roatan in the Caribbean; Kusadasi, Turkiye; and Naples, Barcelona and Lisbon in Europe. In addition to revealing which cruise lines are leaders in offering accessible cruise excursions, Sage Traveling is using the findings to demonstrate the importance of transparency. 

“If you want to increase your booking rate and cancel fewer tours, you’ve got to have an accessibility filter on your page,” Sage said. “It’s got to be visible before people book the cruise. So we’re trying to nudge the industry in the right direction.”

Cruisers can also enjoy tourist attractions that are wheelchair-friendly without booking an excursion if they are willing to do some extra research or work with an advisor like Kristy Lacroix.

Through her personal travels, Lacroix, a Cruise Planners advisor based in Newton, N.H., has a growing encyclopedia of wheelchair-friendly activities in cruise destinations and transportation companies with vehicles that can support wheelchairs, like Accessible Ventures in St. Maarten. Though she doesn’t earn commission on most of that work, she will still guide clients to those businesses.

“I’m helping the people on the islands to stay in business so they will provide an opportunity for my clients and everybody else’s,” she said.

Praise for private islands

Advisors who specialize in accessibility said that private cruise destinations are generally on the right track when it comes to accessibility. 

A commonly cited positive is that the islands have beach wheelchairs and some have accessible cabanas and trams.

“I think they’ve made a really good effort,” said Debra Kerper, a Frisco, Texas-based Cruise Planners advisor. “It’s not perfect, but it’s good.”

NCL has been investing heavily in upgrading its Great Stirrup Cay private island, and “all new elements comply with ADA standards, including the new tram equipped with ADA-compliant ramps and the pool features a zero-entry design to support wheelchair mobility,” said Katty Byrd, senior vice president and chief guest relations officer.

Pitfalls at some private destinations are simple in nature but significantly affect the experience. Two advisors, for example, mentioned getting food at paved buffet areas on private islands only to find the dining tables inaccessible because they required navigating sand.

Not all islands have piers; Great Stirrup Cay, for example, is currently a tender port. NCL said it expects its pier to open this summer. And while the private islands have beach wheelchairs, there aren’t always enough of them, and using them requires having an able-bodied companion to push you, Kerper said.

Some public ports are known to be particularly suitable for guests in wheelchairs to navigate on their own or with excursions. 

Kerper said that Alaska, her top-selling cruise destination, is one of those places. 

“I know when somebody calls me who’s disabled, I can with utmost confidence, say, ‘You are going to have a wonderful, accessible experience’” in Alaska, she said. 

Tourist destinations are also developing features to make the experience more inclusive of disabled tourists. Bras of Five Senses Consulting highlighted government-funded infrastructure at Greek beaches called Seatrac, which enables wheelchair users to transfer into a seat that then brings them into the ocean.

“I’ve seen programs in some places that offer scuba diving, believe it or not, for people in wheelchairs,” he said.

Wheelchair users are just one of many categories of travelers with accessibility needs navigating destinations, and destinations are working to meet a variety of those needs, such as having writing in Braille at museums, he said.

Travel writer Theresa Russell, who is vision impaired, describes herself as having an invisible disability. She has experienced what it is like to cruise before and after losing vision, and while she still cruises with vigor, she now researches excursions and destinations more closely to ensure she’ll feel safe navigating them.

Russell said she still engages in active excursions, but the language that helps in her research is more nuanced than whether or not they are accessible. She also looks at how strenuous an excursion is and the logistics of the activity. 

An excursion that went well? Kayaking in Antarctica.

Though accessibility in cruise destinations is still a work in progress, it can mean the difference between experiencing a destination at all or staying on the ship. Advisors and excursion providers said that having those experiences can overwhelm clients with emotion.

“From a customer perspective, I would say, don’t hold back,” Versteegh said. “Go wherever you want to go, or at least ask for the information, because there’s more possible than you may think.”